American International College students lend an ear to children from Haiti in Springfield hospitals

Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanAmerican International College students Cherline Arnoux, left, and Fedeline Oslyn, AIC Registrar Oliver Layne, are among a number of students who have agreed to help translate for children from Haiti who are getting medical help from hospitals in the Springfield area.

SPRINGFIELD – When eight scared, ill children from Haiti landed at Bradley International Airport a week ago, they were greeted by ambulances and the soothing voices of a group of students who could speak their language.
Over the next few weeks, the American International College students are taking turns at Shriners Hospital for Children and Baystate Medical Center to translate for the children, who were all severely injured in the Jan. 12 earthquake.
“They got off the plane, and we just comforted them,” said Cherline Arnoux, a junior from Boston who is studying criminal justice and business.
“We asked them how they were feeling and things like that,” added Fedeline Osyln, a first-year graduate student studying clinical psychology.
A total of eight children who were being cared for at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Milot, Haiti, were flown to Massachusetts on Feb. 10 for treatment that would be difficult for them to receive in their home country.
Five of the children who have serious orthopedic injuries and infections are being cared for at Shriners Hospital in Springfield, two with burns were brought to Shriners Hospital in Boston, and the most severely injured girl was admitted to Baystate’s pediatric intensive care unit.
The effort to bring the children to the United States was complicated. It started with a Baystate physician and nurse working with the CRUDEM Foundation, a Ludlow-based organization that helps support the Sacred Heart Hospital. Eventually officials were able to complete needed paperwork and receive approval to bring the children to the United States. An anonymous donor offered his private plane for the trip.
American International College Registrar Oliver H. Layne learned of the effort when Dr. David M. Drvaric, chief surgeon for Shriners Hospital in Springfield, mentioned it to him casually.
“My daughter was a patient here, and ‘Dr. D’ told me they were taking kids from Haiti, and I told him we had some students who speak (French) Creole,” he said.
Layne worked as the intermediary when Drvaric told him the hospital could use the translators. The 12 students said they want to help.
“I knew what Shriners was doing for my child,” Layne said. “It was the least I could do for what they are doing for me.”
Most of the students, like Arnoux, have parents who immigrated from Haiti and speak French Creole at home. They have visited Haiti and still have relatives there but never lived in the country.
Oslyn, of Boston, said she moved from Haiti with her father when she was 9. Her mother and some siblings are still in the country but were not hurt in the earthquake.
She said she remembered how overwhelming it was when she first came to the United States, and hoped she could make it easier for the children.
“I want to give something back to my country, and this was a way I could help,” Oslyn said.